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  • Title: Understanding the roles of men and women in fertility decisions.
    Journal: Prog Hum Reprod Res; 1994; (29):7. PubMed ID: 12287993.
    Abstract:
    The relative power of men and women in the family and in the community is becoming an important aspect of reproductive and sexual health research. Employment and educational attainment greatly influence the ability of women to participate in decisions about contraceptive decisions and choice. One study in Kinshasa, Zaire, focused on the man's role in family planning. Data collected from a sample of 507 married men and 515 married women revealed that men initiated most major fertility and reproductive decisions, including use of contraception. Therefore, men should be made the target of the governmental family planning program in order to increase contraceptive use. In Kenya information was gathered by a questionnaire on a total of 600 currently married women below the age of 49 years. Increases in women's participation in formal sector employment and control of economic resources had directly contributed to a reduction in fertility levels. A third study in Senegal gathered information on traditional birth spacing practices, current knowledge of contraception, gender roles in the family, and social organization. The project concluded that family planning messages should be combined with information on nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases, and that the rural population was more receptive to family planning than previously thought. A still ongoing study on households headed by women in the Luwero Triangle, Uganda, aimed to gather information for policy and program development from 882 women in 30 villages. The research used individual and community questionnaires and focus group discussions to elucidate the impact on fertility regulation of a female head of the household. The Social Science Research Unit of the Program will soon launch a major research initiative on the role of men in family planning which will receive high priority during 1995-1996.
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